Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

A thank you for Patrick Henry, guest blogger, who wrote much of this entry. So much of being a St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyer involves not just helping clients with criminal matters. Many times a client needs a less expensive, reliable way to bond out of jail. A bondsman can definitely help in that regard. But how can a bondsman help and what is his/her role in the judicial process?

The Role of Bail and Bail Bonds Agents

The operation of the criminal justice system is foreign to most people. Courts and jails are intimidating places that instill fear and anxiety in people who are there because they are accused of committing a crime. The first questions most people who have been arrested ask their criminal defense attorney is, "How do I get out of jail?" and "How do I do it quickly?"

Bail is the process through which a person's future appearance in court is assured by making release from custody conditioned upon the accused person depositing a sum of money, in an amount decided by the judge. The bail is forfeited if the person fails to return to court.

Most jurisdictions have a bail schedule for minor offenses (such as possession of marijuana or disorderly conduct) posted at the jail or police station to allow a person to be released after posting the designated amount. This avoids the need to bring the arrested person to a courthouse to have a judge set bail.

A judge will set higher bail for offenses that are more serious (such as an aggravated battery or drug trafficking charge), or where the person under arrest has a prior criminal record. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that bail is not a right guaranteed under the Constitution. According to the Supreme Court, all the Constitution requires is that bail not be for an excessive amount. This leaves it solely to the discretion of the judge hearing the case to decide the amount of bail to be posted to secure a person's release. In other words, for the truly serious crimes such as murder, no bond needs to be set at all.

If bail is set in an amount that the accused person can afford to pay, being released from custody is accomplished by depositing cash with the court. If a person does not have the money to post the bail, they will usually seek the services of an experienced bail bonds agent.

Bail bonds agents are licensed to do business in most states. For a non-refundable fee, usually set by the state as a percentage of the amount of the bail, the bail bonds agent posts a bond with the court to secure the person's release. The bail bonds agent is responsible for the appearance of the accused person at all future court proceedings, or the bond posted by the agent is forfeited. This website has a more in-depth guide for bail bonds you can download.

To the person sitting in jail who does not have enough money to post bail, the bail bonds agent's fee is a small price to pay to obtain freedom.

Continue reading "Tampa Bay Crime and Bonds- what you should know" »

A story that is so scary its funny... According to an article on the website guyism, we may have a new BAC record...

The man, James Henderson, was first arrested for public intoxication when he was found passed out in a ditch. His Blood-alcohol level was an astonishing 0.552%! This is amazing as it is generally thought that death can occur when the BAC gets in the high 0.200s or 0.3. You generally fall into a coma if your BAC reaches around .400. What makes the story more interesting is that not only did this man make a full recovery but he was again arrested on a disorderly intoxication charge. That time he had a .297!

As a St. Petersburg DUI defense lawyer, I have often been asked to explain BAC and what the limits are in Florida to be convicted of a DUI. BAC (Blood-alcohol content or sometimes breath-alcohol content) is basically measured as a percentage of alcohol in a person's blood.

Generally, in Florida a .08 BAC is considered impaired. This means that 1/8 of one percent of a person's blood is alcohol, by volume. A BAC of .15 or greater is enough to give you enhanced DUI penalties. These penalties generally consist of enhanced fines, more jail time, and a breathalyzer machine being installed in your vehicle. You might be surprised but a .08 BAC often does not equal much alcohol. A slender woman may only need 1-2 glasses of wine before she reaches that limit!

Finally, just as you can be found not guilty with a BAC of .08 or higher, you CAN be convicted of a DUI or Driving under the influence, even if your BAC is below that standard. How a DUI suspect acts, looks, performs certain tests (field sobriety exercises, a subject for another blog) and dozens of other factors along with a potential BAC goes into determing if someone was driving under the influence...

Continue reading "A new Blood-alcohol content (BAC) record?" »

In part one of this blog, we discussed the history and background of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law and what it means. In this section, we will be discussing both the potential charges Mr. Zimmerman, the alleged shooter, may be facing as well as if this law itself even applies...

What are the possible charges that George Zimmerman faces?

As of this writing, no arrest has been made in this case. Police continue to investigate with no hint of what direction they are leaning to. The most obvious charge is murder. In Florida, murder can be of varying degrees, often depending on if the act was premeditated. If the police determined that Mr. Zimmerman acted with negligence in the killing of Mr. Martin, under Florida law, her could be charged with manslaughter. Mr. Zimmerman could possibly face federal charges if the federal government decides to get involved (possibly through a civil rights violation). Finally, it is important to remember that this is all conjuncture, no charges have been filed yet and Mr. Zimmerman is innocent until proven guilty.

Does Florida "Stand Your Ground" Law apply?

The short answer is...nobody really knows! This law prevents prosecution for murder or other criminal charges but ONLY if George Zimmerman was not the instigator. Using a hypothetical, suppose George Zimmerman repeatedly followed and harrassed Trayvon Martin or if George attacked Trayvon. Then pretend Trayvon started to fight back or retaliate against George. This law could not be used as a defense by Mr. Zimmerman because in that scenario, HE was the instigator and did not try to retreat from the situation. Contrary to many media depictions, this law is not a "get out of jail" card that you can use just because you started a fight and began to lose!

However, suppose Mr. Zimmerman was following Mr. Martin and Trayvon then began to get aggresive towards George. George then retreats but Trayvon continues to attack. If Mr. Zimmerman has a reasonable fear that he may suffer death or great bodily harm, that law may now apply.

The truth is we may never know what occurred that night. Already, there has been much inacurate media portrayals of both parties. All we can hope for is that justice will be done...

Continue reading "Florida "Stand Your Ground" Law and Trayvon Martin, Part Two" »